I think it really depends on how you grew up. I grew up around plenty of ingredients in my food that are just as pungent to smell, so fish sauce smells distinct but innocuous to me. But for some reason grated parmesan smells pretty bad to me even though it's delicious.

There are huge differences in quality between brands. Many people swear by Squid, which I used to love, but having had Red Boat, let me attest: you can get the amazing flavor without the awful smell.

It depends. The typical stuff, that most people encounter, the Vietnamese "version" (called "nước mắm"), has a lighter flavor than the Thai "version" because, as was told to me by my mother-in-law who grew up in Vietnam, the Vietnamese prefer it to not smell or taste like fish. But, there's another type of fish sauce, that is Vietnamese, that is a little more rare. It's called "mắm nêm" and it has a very, very, _very_ strong fish odor and taste. I tend to steer clear of it but my wife and mother-in-law love the stuff.

edit/ For reference, I'm just an average white guy from the midwest and I married a Chinese-American woman and now live in SoCal. Through her, I've discovered, and love, most of these foods. Vietnamese fish sauce doesn't really register as "fish" sauce to me, either, rather it just tastes quite salty.

Nicely seasoned and cooked beef can get the umami, but a leaf of lettuce and a couple of tomato slices and pickles don't hold a candle to a big mouthful of pickled carrot/daikon and fresh cucumber and cilantro in a proper banh mi.

There's nothing fresh or fragrant-tasting in the average burger, unfortunately. When I think of my local favorites, they are practically veggie-free. The delicious Patrick's Cafe burger (French style), with finely chopped bacon/mushrooms/onions/ketchup fried into an almost black paste of pure umami... delicious, but not vegetable anymore. The famous Matt's Bar Jucy Lucy (yes, that's the right spelling), just meat and cheese and bun and some onions if you ask nicely. Total umami bomb, but none of the clean fresh taste of banh mi.

As a child that building, which used to be a taco bell, it always caught my eye on the drive to my grandparents place. Years passed and fortunately many of those original taco bell buildings were passed on to new owners.

That particular bakery actually produces bread for the che cali restaurant in the same parking lot as well as their own store front. Living near by I quickly learned their bakeries schedule and would make a point of visiting just around the time the bread had finished cooling in the rack behind the register. I always thought they should light up a sign à la krispy kreme, but figured most local folks had figured it out like myself. 3 for $5, take that subway.

I think the best ones I had in Vietnam were on Cat Ba Island, in Ha Long Bay. They used used a sort rotisserie kebab to cook the pork, and added an egg.

I found it really interesting how every region had its own way of making them. Before I went to Vietnam, I had this idea that there was a "proper" banh mi, but the only thing they all had in common was the bread roll.